Since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization on Sep. 21, the number of appeals to surrender from Russian citizens to the hotline of the “I want to live” project has sharply increased. This is according to Yuri Yusov, a Ukraine intelligence spokesperson, speaking on Oct. 4.
Yusov noted to the FREEDOM channel that over 2,000 calls have already been received to the project’s hotline in the past few weeks alone.
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“We can state that following the successful offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine [AFU] in the Kharkiv direction, there has been a surge in appeals. And, of course, after the so-called partial mobilization,” Yusov said.
“We receive calls not just from soldiers who are already fighting in Ukraine, but also from those who have either just been mobilized and are still on the territory of Russia, or from their relatives… In the space of few weeks, we have received more than 2,000 such requests.”
Yusov also emphasized that 100,000 mobilized soldiers from Russia are being sent to the most dangerous areas of the front.
He added that those mobilized “lack sleeping places, food, uniforms and money, and the police are preparing to suppress future protests.”
According to Yusov’s information, accommodation allocated to conscripts in Russia – before sending them to the front line – is lacking in terms of basic acceptable living conditions and food, including insufficient sleeping places, toilets and heating. Among the conscripts are individuals with medical conditions who do not have access to medical assistance. Moreover, the mobilized are forced to buy their own uniforms and equipment.
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Dissatisfaction with mass mobilization is growing in the Republic of Buryatia, Yusov explained. Men who had never served in the army were mobilized in the village of Barguzin and sent to the administrative center of the Trans-Baikal region in Russia. It turned out that there were no warm clothes at the collection point, so Barguzin village residents were forced to collect “humanitarian aid” for mobilized fellow villagers.
In general, according to Yusov’s statement, the work of military commissars in Russia is “chaotic.” To implement the partial mobilization plan, the relevant officials have been issuing summonses regardless of age, health, and military experience.
Yusov emphasized that to curb anti-mobilization protests, Russia’s police force is intensifying the preparation of new “special purpose” units.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has recently stated that Ukraine guarantees every Russian soldier who surrenders civilized treatment. Moreover, he provided assurances that no one in Russia would find out that the surrender was voluntary.
Zelensky also promised that Ukraine would find a way not to send a Russian prisoner back to Russia as part of an exchange if the soldier in question did not want it.
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